With over $1 trillion in transactions under his belt, Larry Grafstein, Deputy Chairman, Global Investment Banking, RBC Capital Markets, shares career insights and deal strategies. This episode was originally recorded with The Investment Banking Leaders Podcast on September 23, 2024.

As U.S. issuances surge and redemptions from the low-rate era come due, the debt markets are in a dynamic phase, but what can issuers and investors expect next? Vito Sperduto is joined by Robert McCormack, Global Head of Debt Capital Markets, and Allison MacKinnon, Head of UK & European Corporate Debt Capital Markets, to discuss the developments.

Despite uncertainty around elections in Europe and the U.S., issuers have accelerated their funding plans in what has been a positive year for global bond markets. Head of European Debt Capital Markets and Syndicate, Robert Lamb and Co-head, Canadian Debt Capital Markets, Patrick McDonald explore the trends shaping debt capital markets.

The Trans Mountain Pipeline is up and running; the LNG Canada export facility is gearing up. The promise of new routes and markets for Canadian products is focusing investors’ attention on the market as never before. RBC Canadian energy specialists, Jeff Cormack and Michael Povaschuk, join the Energy Transition in Focus podcast to predict what this means for companies in the sector.

In a shifting financial landscape, banks are emerging as compelling value investments, driven by modest GDP growth and anticipated Fed rate cuts. Co-Head of Global Financials Research, Gerard Cassidy, explores the latest trends in bank stocks, regulatory changes, and M&A opportunities.

Covid put paid to the notion of fintech as a secular growth market, yet the sector continues to evolve, diversify, and transform financial providers. Fintech analyst, Dan Perlin, reveals why the mood at RBC’s fintech conference was better than the market would suggest, and explains that a long-awaited consumer dip could ultimately benefit the sector.

Private capital is critical to energy transition efforts, but much of it to date has been channeled to renewables and electric vehicles. What are the prospects of attracting funds to other sub-sectors, and early-stage innovators? In this episode of Strategic Alternatives, host Beatrix Pratte-Ness is joined by RBC specialists Ralph Ibendahl, Paul Betts, and Barrie Laver to assess the prospects for the market.

With a combined deal value of $29bn under their belts this year, four CEOs reflect on what they’ve learned from their successes – and failures. Roberto Bellini (who sold BELLUS Health), Mark McKenna (Prometheus), Bill Meury (Karuna Therapeutics) and Dan O’Connor (Ambrx Biopharma) also consider the current market for biopharma M&A and what buyers are seeking today.

On this episode of Strategic Alternatives, we share a rebroadcast of an iCapital Beyond 60/40 podcast episode, featuring Amy Wu Silverman, Managing Director and Equity Derivatives Strategist of RBC, in which she shares how options market trends can indicate public sentiment.

On this episode of Strategic Alternatives, we share a rebroadcast of the Meb Faber Show podcast episode, featuring Lori Calvasina, Head of US Equity Strategy at RBC Capital Markets, in which she explains why the US market has become more sentiment driven in the post COVID era. She shares her thoughts on the valuations of the top 10 stocks and the broad market. She also touches on small cap stocks, takeaways from earnings season, and her early thoughts on 2025.

RBC Global Energy’s Nick Woodruff and Tim Perry discuss the trends shaping the landscape of commodities, energy, and infrastructure investments coming out of RBC’s 2024 Energy, Power & Infrastructure Conference (EPIC) in New York.

This year has seen a pick-up in equity activity across healthcare, with a wider range of firms showing promise for value creation, and a stronger investor appetite for a pipeline of private companies that are set to go public. RBC’s John Kolz, John Hoffman, and Jason Levitz met at this year’s RBC Capital Markets Global Healthcare Conference to discuss the latest indicators from investors and corporates.

External forces are weighing heavily on energy markets in very different ways. While enforcement of merger competition rules puts strain on M&A deals, AI advances offer potential for both increased demand and business efficiencies. RBC Global Energy’s Nick Woodruff and Tim Perry consider the likely effects on the industry with host Vito Sperduto.

In recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, Wil Snape-Rogers, Executive Director, and Danielle Hundt, Chief Program Officer, of Play Rugby USA, join Vito Sperduto to discuss how they are using the power of sport to help young people flourish—both mentally and physically.

Oil and gas markets have reached a low- or no-growth business model, yet recent months have produced a surge in M&A activity not seen for a generation. Tim Perry and Nick Woodruff, of RBC’s Global Energy team, join Vito Sperduto to take the temperature of the sector and analyze the current state of energy valuations.

John Kolz, Global Co-Head, Equity Capital Markets, Paul Betts, Managing Director, M&A, Europe and Beatrix Pratte-Ness, Associate, M&A, Europe, explore key themes shaping private placement transactions across Europe, and the interplay between private and public markets and M&A activity.

Late 2023 saw a pick-up in equity capital markets activity in financial services. Insurance and business development corporations show particular promise for 2024, while there is keen investor appetite for a pipeline of alternative asset managers set to go public. RBC’s J.T. Deignan, MD and Head of Real Estate and Financial Institutions Equity Capital Markets, and Neil Chawhan, MD, Insurance Investment Banking, take a look ahead.

After the tech IPO drought of 2023, what is the state of the market this year? Do software and AI companies have a path to go public? Jesse Chasse, MD and Head of Technology, Equity Capital Markets at RBC, joins Dan Nathan on the Okay, Computer podcast to analyze the prospects for a market revival.

Looming elections are likely to be a barrier to M&A deal activity beyond September. But deal activity across non-banking areas of the sector remains robust, and attendees at RBC Capital Markets’ Financial Institutions Conference suggest a positive sentiment. Vinnie Badinehal, Head of Financial Institutions, and Jason Braunstein, Head of Financial Institutions M&A, assess the sector’s progress.

With fewer, more gradual interest rate cuts than expected now on the cards, what does the remainder of 2024 have in store for financial sector M&A? And how will the regulators’ evolving response to proposed deals affect the banks’ appetite? Vinnie Badinehal, Head of Financial Institutions, and Jason Braunstein, Head of Financial Institutions M&A, join to assess the sector’s mood.

With a soft economic landing more likely, consumers seem ready to spend. However, retailers need to find ways to provide better customer experiences while managing costs. As they seek to capture extra capabilities, not least in tech, does this herald a new wave of deals in the sector? Douglas Trauber, Global Head of Consumer and Retail, and Hugh Paisley, Co-Head, U.S. Consumer and Retail Investing, join to analyze how retailers can stay competitive in 2024.

Consolidation may be the theme of 2024 for retail’s most fragmented sectors. But how will the regulatory atmosphere, the U.S. election and geopolitical tensions affect potential deals? Douglas Trauber, Global Head of Consumer and Retail, and Hugh Paisley, Co-Head, U.S. Consumer and Retail Investing, join to identify high-activity sectors and assess the external challenges retailers face.

Private equity assets have mounted to $3 trillion as sponsors maintain their grip. Will 2024 see a long-awaited surge of exits? What conditions do players need to trigger a revival of M&A and LBO activity? John Cokinos, Global Head of Leveraged Finance and Capital Markets, and Hank Johnson, Co-Head of U.S. Mergers & Acquisitions, join to explore the factors impacting the private equity M&A environment and what we can expect in 2024.

Familiar fixtures are set to return to private equity M&A. Conventional financing is starting to look more attractive again; traditional sales are poised to return to the mix. Meanwhile, cyclical industrials are among the sectors well placed to lead the way in deal activity. John Cokinos, Global Head of Leveraged Finance and Capital Markets, and Hank Johnson, Co-Head of U.S. Mergers & Acquisitions, join to explore the factors impacting the private equity M&A environment and what...